The Electricity Sector

The electricity sector is the largest source of greenhouse emissions in Australia. About 80 percent of our electricity still comes from coal and gas. The rest comes from renewables: mostly hydro and wind but also from an increasing amount of rooftop and large-scale solar.

The electricity coming down the wire into your house is the same as everyone else’s on your street. However, retailers can choose who and where they buy electricity from. They can also choose whether or not to take public positions in favour of rapidly decarbonising the energy sector or maintaining the status quo.

By switching from a retailer that invests your money in fossil fuels to one that generates or buys energy from renewables, you are voting with your wallet and sending a signal to Australian energy companies that you want them to get serious about tackling climate change.

Ranking

We rank retailers on the emissions intensity of the power stations they own, their investments in and policy positions on renewable energy and fossil fuels, their deals for solar consumers, their carbon offset products, their promotion of energy efficiency and demand management, and their corporate transparency and sustainability reporting.

This year we have also scored their support for community energy, battery power and local energy trading.

We have also decided to recognise the Most Improved Retailer since the last Guide was published in 2015. This year that award goes to AGL, which jumped up the rankings thanks to its public support for decarbonising the energy sector, investments in new renewables, support for local energy initiatives and corporate sustainability efforts.

We also commend AGL for standing up to federal government bullying to try to keep Liddell power station open past 2022. However, AGL remains Australia’s biggest carbon polluter, and we think it should be doing more, especially by committing to close down all its inefficient, unreliable old coal power stations by 2030 – not as late as 2050.

Taking Power

The biggest impediment now to decarbonising the electricity sector is the current federal government, which has weak climate commitments and no workable plan to implement them.

Local and state governments, some electricity retailers, community energy groups and individual households and businesses are taking up the slack. They are transforming the energy sector from the old model of centralised coal and gas power stations supplying passive consumers to a new model based on local renewable energy generation, storage and trading.

By supporting innovative green retailers you can help tackle climate change, take control of your energy needs – and save money.

We’re showing you electricity suppliers in

Melbourne-based Australian retail arm of New Zealand-based public company Meridian Energy. In Australia, Meridian owns two wind farms and has announced the acquisition of several hydro power plants in NSW. It also has large contracts to buy power from solar and wind farms in Victoria and NSW. Powershop currently supplies over 100,000 customers in Victoria, NSW and South-East Queensland and has developed innovative ways to market to consumers and to communicate with them.

Owns only renewable assets (via parent company), with emissions intensity close to zero

Strong public position against investing in fossil fuels

Does not have contracts to buy energy from fossil fuel power stations

Involved in and supportive of local energy trading, demand response and community energy projects

Higher than average GreenPower price

Criteria Scores

Emissions

Decarbonisation

Carbon offsets

Renewables

Fossil fuels

EE and DR/DM*

Transparency

Note that these are the raw scores out of 10 for each sub‐criterion, which are then weighted to produce the element scores and final overall score (see Fact Sheet)

Privately owned, Melbourne-based retailer selling energy in Victoria, NSW, ACT, Southeast Queensland and South Australia. Diamond owns biogas power plants and over a thousand rooftop solar installations. The first retailer to offer an export tariff for home batteries.

New, small, privately Australian owned retailer based in Melbourne. Currently operating in NSW and Southeast Queensland with plans to begin operating in Victoria and South Australia shortly. Has an innovative pricing model based on a fixed service charge with no profit margin on variable energy charges. Partners with Australian organisations to invest half its profits in local charities and community energy projects.

New, small, community owned retailer based in the Northern Rivers of NSW. Currently has around 5,000 customers in rural and regional NSW, with plans to expand shortly. Supports community energy projects and is committed to returning 50% of profits to the NSW community.

Strong public position against investing in fossil fuels

Supports community energy projects and has a carbon offset program (in addition to GreenPower)

Has a high proportion of GreenPower sales

Does not have contracts to buy energy from fossil fuel power stations

Is not involved in demand management/response programs

Element ScoresCriteria Scores

Emissions

Decarbonisation

Carbon offsets

Renewables

Fossil fuels

EE and DR/DM*

Transparency

Note that these are the raw scores out of 10 for each sub‐criterion, which are then weighted to produce the element scores and final overall score (see Fact Sheet)

Publicly listed company and Australia’s second largest electricity retailer with 3.6 million customers. Sells electricity in the eastern mainland states and South Australia. Claims to be the largest ASX-listed owner, operator and developer of renewable energy generation in Australia. However, it is also the largest fossil fuel generator and is therefore Australia’s largest carbon polluter.
AGL is the Guide’s Most Improved retailer for 2018 given the increase in its underlying score compared with 2015. This has occurred on the back of recent investments in wind and solar farms, support for a virtual power plant trial, and public commitments to close all existing conventional coal-fired plants by 2050. AGL has also resisted federal government pressure to keep the highly polluting and unreliable Liddell coal power station in NSW open beyond 2022.

Publicly listed company and Australia’s biggest electricity retailer. Sells electricity in the eastern mainland states and South Australia. Owns one large black coal and several gas ‘peaking’ plants and pumped hydro. It has more than 700 MW of renewable energy in its portfolio, and will add 350 MW of new solar farms this year, with the aim of one-quarter of its generation being from renewable sources by 2020. Origin has committed to a company-wide 50 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2032 including exiting its coal investments and net zero emissions by 2050. Meanwhile Origin is the fourth biggest greenhouse polluter in Australia.

It is also expanding its coal seam gas operations in Queensland and is pursuing shale and tight gas exploration and operations in the Northern Territory.

Owned by Hydro Tasmania, which is in turn owned by the Government of Tasmania. Momentum directly owns five cogeneration plants in Victorian hospitals. As well as hydro power stations, Hydro Tasmania owns two large gas plants. It has built a Hybrid Energy Hub on King Island and part-owns Woolnorth wind farm. Sells energy in NSW, Victoria and South Australia.

Now owned by Snowy Hydro, so (like Lumo Energy) effectively it will soon be owned solely by the Commonwealth Government. Snowy Hydro owns large hydro power stations but also two gas peaking plants. Sells energy in the eastern mainland states and South Australia.

Foreign-owned private company and third largest electricity retailer in Australia. Owns coal plants in Victoria and NSW, gas plants in South Australia and NSW and a wind farm in SA. It invested heavily in renewables in 2017 but is still the second biggest carbon polluter in Australia, with the highest emissions intensity of the big three retailers. It has the least ambitious decarbonisation goals of the big three. Sells energy in the eastern mainland states and South Australia.

Now owned by Snowy Hydro, so (like Red Energy) effectively it will soon be owned solely by the Commonwealth Government. Snowy Hydro owns large hydro power stations but also two gas peaking plants. Has over half a million customers. Sells energy in the eastern mainland states and South Australia.

Subsidiary of AGL selling electricity to customers in NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria. Has mostly business customers. Does not own any power stations. Where no separate data is available it is treated as the same as AGL, so info below only shows results where they differ from AGL’s.

Strong public position against future investments in fossil fuels (via parent company)

Offers a lower than average price for GreenPower

Offers equitable solar offers but export rate is lower than average in most states

Does not support P2P trading, community energy projects and is not involved in demand management/ response programs

Investments in coal power stations (parent company), with emissions intensity above NEM average

Criteria Scores

Emissions

Decarbonisation

Carbon offsets

Renewables

Fossil fuels

EE and DR/DM*

Transparency

Note that these are the raw scores out of 10 for each sub‐criterion, which are then weighted to produce the element scores and final overall score (see Fact Sheet)

Wholly owned by the Tasmanian Government, and is the only retailer in that state. Does not own any power stations itself. As well as hydro power stations, Hydro Tasmania owns two large gas plants. It has built a Hybrid Energy Hub on King Island and part-owns Woolnorth wind farm.

Owns only renewable assets (via parent company), with emissions intensity close to zero

Owned by the government of Western Australia. Services about 100,000 homes and 10,000 businesses in regional and remote areas of the state not served by the south-west grid. Active in tariff reform and developing renewable energy microgrids.

Jointly owned by Icon Water (formerly ACTEW Water, owned by the ACT Government,) and AGL Energy via subsidiary companies. Only operates in the ACT and nearby areas of NSW. Does not own power stations of its own, but parent company AGL does. See AGL for more details.

Element Scores

Emissions

Decarbonisation

Carbon offsets

Renewables

Fossil fuels

EE and DR/DM*

Transparency

Note that these are the raw scores out of 10 for each sub‐criterion, which are then weighted to produce the element scores and final overall score (see Fact Sheet)

Wholly owned by the Northern Territory Government and the sole electricity retailer in the Territory, with over 80,000 customers. The NT Government owns a number of power stations, almost all of them using fossil fuels.

Retail arm of Queensland regional and rural electricity network. Owned by the Queensland Government. Services around 700,000 customers outside the southeast of the state. For many people living in these areas Ergon is the only electricity retailer option. It owns one medium size gas fired power station and 33 smaller stand-alone power stations in remote areas. Most are diesel fuelled or hybrids, but they also include relatively small solar PV, concentrated solar, geothermal and wind plants.

Tango Energy is the new name for the retail arm of Pacific Hydro, a foreign-owned private company also operating in South America. Mostly a generator with small retail operations in Victoria only. Owns seven wind farms and several hydro plants.

Owns mostly renewable assets, with emissions intensity close to zero

Solar export price lower than state average but provides equitable solar offers

Owned by Engie (formerly GDF Suez of France), one of the largest energy companies in the world. Services about 500,000 customers in NSW, ACT, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia. Engie owns and operates about 1,000 MW of wind and gas-fired generating plants in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.

Small private company retailing in Victoria, NSW, Southeast Queensland and South Australia. Recently bought by the Amaysim Group but run separately. Does not own any power stations. Promotes itself as a 100% online retailer.

Solar export price(s) above state average(s) but the solar offers are not equitable

Complies with Renewable Energy Target requirements

Provides energy efficiency information (on website)

Position on fossil fuels unknown

Impossible to calculate GreenPower price and the GreenPower proportion of sales is not known

Element Scores

Emissions

Decarbonisation

Carbon offsets

Renewables

Fossil fuels

EE and DR/DM*

Transparency

Note that these are the raw scores out of 10 for each sub‐criterion, which are then weighted to produce the element scores and final overall score (see Fact Sheet)

Owned by the Western Australian Government, and the sole retailer for more than 1 million customers in the southwest of the state. Owns coal and gas fired power stations, wind farms, a solar farm and hybrid plants. Part-owns a cogeneration facility. Involved in Australia’s first community energy storage trial.

Provides energy efficiency information (on website)

Investments in coal power stations, with emissions intensity above NEM average

Does not clearly offer a price for solar export (Feed-in-Tariff)

Position on fossil fuels unknown

Impossible to calculate GreenPower price and GreenPower proportion of sales is unknown

Element Scores

Emissions

Decarbonisation

Carbon offsets

Renewables

Fossil fuels

EE and DR/DM*

Transparency

Note that these are the raw scores out of 10 for each sub‐criterion, which are then weighted to produce the element scores and final overall score (see Fact Sheet)

Private company owned by US-based company TPG Capital. Supplies electricity and gas to over 700,000 customers in NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria. Owns gas plants in several states. Closed its two coal fired power stations at Port Augusta in 2016 but bought the brown coal Loy Yang B power station in 2017. Has acquired the development rights to a ~500MW renewable energy project pipeline.

Provides energy efficiency information (on website)

Produces a Sustainability Report

Does not have a position on fossil fuels and has recently purchased a coal fired power station

Does not offer GreenPower or other carbon offsets

Did not comply with Renewable Energy Target requirements in 2016

Element Scores

Emissions

Decarbonisation

Carbon Offsets

Renewables

Fossil fuels

EE and DR/DM*

Transparency

Note that these are the raw scores out of 10 for each sub‐criterion, which are then weighted to produce the element scores and final overall score (see Fact Sheet)

Electricity in the ACT

The ACT market is heavily dominated by ActewAGL. There are currently no companies that are ranked ‘green’ by this guide retailing electricity in the ACT.

The current ACT government has the most progressive climate change and renewable energy policies in Australia, including an ambition for the government to generate 90 per cent of the electricity it consumes from renewable sources by 2020.This target will apply to all retailers operating in the ACT.

Electricity in NSW

NSW is the largest electricity market in Australia. Although it is officially deregulated, it has poor retail competition, with Origin,AGL and EnergyAustralia controlling nearly 90 per cent of the market.These three giants actively undermined Australia’s Renewable Energy Target and have low levels of investment in renewables.

The highest ranked retailers currently operating in NSW are Powershop and Diamond Energy.

There are particular issues for NSW customers in relation to coal seam gas (AGL has controversial CSG operations in Western Sydney and plans for a larger project at Gloucester).The NSW Government also now allows the burning of native forest byproducts for electricity generation, although we are not aware that this is currently being done.

Electricity in the NT

The NT is not connected to the ‘national’ grid, but has numerous small grids servicing Darwin and larger towns, as well as stand alone power stations servicing isolated communities. Most electricity generation in the NT is owned by the government, and very little of it is from renewable energy sources.

There is only one retailer in the NT, Jacana Energy. It is owned by the NT government and was split from the NT Power and Water Corporation in May 2014. Jacana scores poorly in this ranking because it has almost no investment in renewable energy and does not offer a GreenPower product. However, it offers the highest single solar feed-in tariff in Australia.

Electricity in QLD

Queensland’s electricity is generated mostly from coal and gas, with increasing amounts of coal seam gas in the south-east.

The retail market is dominated by three companies: Origin and AGL in the southeast, with the government owned Ergon Energy servicing other areas of the state.

Diamond Energy is the only ‘green’ ranked company retailing in QLD. However, Click Energy offers attractive feed in tariff for solar PV owners, but overall bills may be higher.With abundant sunshine and decreasing costs of installation, south-east Queensland households have the highest uptake of solar PV systems in Australia.

Electricity in South Australia

South Australia has two coal-fired power stations, several gas-fired plants, and at least 15 wind farms. One coal-fired power station has been mothballed and the other is only partly operating. SA has been the standout state for renewable energy generation in recent years, with wind power now accounting for well over half of the power output on some days.

The state’s retail market is dominated by AGL. For residents of Adelaide and some regional towns, South Australia has relatively good competition for green energy with the highly ranked Diamond Energy and Momentum available. Competition in rural areas is more limited. Due to a public campaign,Alinta is considering replacing its two ageing coal plants at Port Augusta with a solar thermal generator.

Electricity in Tasmania

Except during some peak periods,Tasmania generates almost all of its energy from hydro power stations, and exports some surplus hydropower to Victoria.

There is only one retailer, the government owned Aurora Energy.The retail market was officially deregulated from July 2014, but no other companies have so far applied to retail in Tasmania. Since most of the energy Aurora buys comes from hydro, it rates relatively highly.

Electricity in Victoria

Most energy generated in Victoria is from highly polluting brown coal, so the choice of electricity retailers is especially important for Victorians.

The DirtyThree (Origin, AGL and EnergyAustralia) currently control over 80 per cent of the market. But as the first state to have its electricity market deregulated,Victoria has more competition than any other state and increasingly,Victorians have greater options to shift away from these companies.

Victoria also has the greatest choice of green energy retailers.The two highest ranked retailers in this Guide, Powershop and Diamond Energy, are based in Victoria.Other green options include the mostly hydro companies Momentum Energy and Red Energy.

Electricity in Western Australia

Western Australia is not connected to the ‘national’ grid.There is one grid for the south-west of WA, and numerous other smaller ones in the rest of the state, as well as stand alone power stations servicing isolated communities and mining towns. Electricity generation in WA is dominated by large coal and gas fired power stations and smaller gas and hybrid power stations in isolated towns.

There is no retail competition, with Synergy covering the south-west and Horizon Energy (both owned by the government) covering the rest of the state.

There are no opportunities for WA consumers to choose a green retailer. Instead you can buy GreenPower products along with your normal power contract, and consider other measures to reduce the emissions from your electricity consumption.

Depending on location, some Horizon Power customers also are lucky enough to benefit from the highest feed-in tariffs for solar PV owners in Australia.This reflects the high cost of providing power in these locations.

Electricity in Australia

The “national” electricity grid runs from Port Douglas to Port Lincoln, with interconnectors allowing energy to flow and be traded between states. There are also smaller grids in southwest Western Australia, the Pilbara, Darwin and other isolated towns.

The national electricity market is a complex system of federal and state regulation, with generation and retailing being competitive (in theory) and the networks being monopolies (some private, others government owned). Overall, the Big Three retailers – which also own power stations, mostly fossil-fueled – control about three-quarters of the market.

While the proportions vary between states, your bill consists of payments to generators for the wholesale cost of electricity (the national average being about one-third of the total bill), to networks to transport the energy to your place (just under half) and to retailers for their costs and margins (around 15 percent). Retailers’ contributions to the renewable energy target plus consumers’ contributions to state initiatives make up the remaining 6-7 percent.

While the main driver of higher retail bills in previous years was spending on infrastructure by networks, bill increases over the past two years have been driven by higher wholesale prices. These have been primarily caused not by renewable energy but by increases in the wholesale price of gas (used in peaking plants at times of high demand) and gaming of the spot market by large generators and ‘gentailers’ (retailers which also own large generation portfolios).

Frequently Asked Questions

We’ve thought about the questions you might have, and tackled them in the frequently asked questions section. We hope they help! If you’ve got a question we haven’t addressed, please get in touch via the contact form.

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The Total Environment Centre and Greenpeace Australia Pacific are providing this information to assist consumers with their choices and to assist advocacy efforts to create a greener, more sustainable energy system. We do not endorse any particular retailer. Both organisations do not receive any corporate funding from energy providers.

Greenpeace does not accept money from any corporations or Governments. Retailers wishing to use this information in their advertising are advised to contact The Total Environment Centre or Greenpeace Australia Pacific before doing so.

This project was funded by Energy Consumers Australia as part of its grants process for consumer advocacy projects and research projects for the benefit of consumers of electricity and natural gas. The views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect the views of Energy Consumers Australia.

The information on this website was current on 24 March 2018 and does not reflect any changes in company ownership, assets, offers, public policy positions, etc made after that date.